MeasureCast, a Web streaming-media audience measurement firm, today issued its monthly Top 50 Internet Radio Stations and Top 10 Networks for the month of April. According to the company's figures, April 30 - the day before the "Day of Silence" protest - was the top day for streaming audio.

Fully 4 percent of the month's ratings were generated on that day, according to MeasureCast.

"It could be a coincidence," said Sven Haarhoff, communications director at MeasureCast, who spoke with Newsbytes today. "Or it could be that all the attention that Internet radio and the proposed royalty rates and Day of Silence received from the mainstream press drove more people to Internet radio sites."

Haarhoff said the company has not yet compiled ratings for the days following the Day of Silence protest to determine if Webcast listenership remained higher in the wake of the protest.

A U.S. Copyright Office-appointed arbitration panel in February recommended setting the rate at $.0014 for each song signal streamed, a rate many Webcasters say is far too high.

Webcasters had hoped the Copyright Office would establish a rate closer to what terrestrial stations pay to compensate publishers and composers - about 3 percent of their gross revenues. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) countered with a request that Webcasters pay about 15 percent of their gross revenues in royalties.

The sides failed to reach a compromise, resulting in arbitration. But what members of the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel (CARP) proposed, many Webcasters contend, turned out to be worse even than what the label-backed RIAA had sought.

In fact, many Webcasters and some industry analysts indicate, the rates established by CARP would drive many online radio stations out of business. Hence, the Day of Silence protest.

The librarian of Congress has until May 21 to decide royalty rates for Webcasters. The Copyright Office has solicited public comment online, and plans to seek more commentary at a May 10 a roundtable discussion at the James Madison Memorial Building in Washington, D.C.

MeasureCast also said today that, for the second month in a row, London-based Webcaster Virgin Radio won the monthly ratings race, in terms of listening hours. The station, which is affiliated with Virgin Records, streamed 1.2 million hours of programming to 158,858 people, MeasureCast said.

JazzFM streamed the second greatest number of hours worth of programming online in April, but it had the largest audience, with 224,451 listeners.

The New York Times' WQXR-FM took third place by streaming 738,208 hours to 93,373 people, MeasureCast said.

Among networks, the 197 Clear Channel Worldwide AM and FM stations that are streamed online delivered 6.9 million hours of content in April, making it the leading Internet radio network.

Reported by Newsbytes, http://www.newsbytes.com .

16:38 CST